One of my airline pilot colleagues told me that his father-in-law, an economics professor at a top-rung university, studied the cabotage issue. His opinion as a disinterested, agnostic party: it’s a done deal — our Congress is being paid off to give the UAE the upper hand they seek.

I agree that such things are serious problems and cause for great concern, but they don’t support the thesis that the world economy needs war to grow. These problematic policies are the result of an agreeable relationship between the US and Dubai, however wrongheaded they are. Now, something could go wrong and result in further military action. But UAE is rather westernized and benefits from productive participation in the global economy. Does that mean they will be careful in security? Not necessarily. But something going wrong won’t help them either. War and international disputes contract economic activity.

KM

When even the Goldman Sachs CEO starts noticing that “income inequality is destabilizing and responsible for divisions in the country,” then you know it’s not all peachy. Increasing divisions can lead to conflict.

Just today, I got offered FREE Solar panels for my home, the goal of the company is to give away the product at a minimum price, so that we then pay them instead of the local utilities, driving the electric company out of business eventually while the new company doesn’t have to turn a profit as it has government grants for being green energy, and thus once the utility is gone, they will make money as the new game in town. I was told this by the sales person when I asked how they could make money giving away their product.

Adolfo

Just how cheap are we talkin’?

kirthigdon

These are two pretty much unrelated issues, neither of which has anything to do with war profits. As far as the first one is concerned, I don’t see the problem with customs pre-clearance at point of departure as long as security checks are satisfactory. Isn’t it even preferable to have contraband detected before it is loaded on a plane rather than when it reaches its destination? The real security problem is allowing travel agencies in Saudi Arabia to issue US visas. This was done prior to 9/11, discontinued for a few years thereafter, reinstated by Bush and still in effect as far as I know. It was a boon to the 9/11 hijackers who were able to enter the US “legally”. Once in country, they got their training, their box cutters, and their planes. The problem is letting dangerous people into the country. Once here, they can easily arm themselves without contraband.

On the second issue, I’m unfamiliar with present law. Do other foreign carriers get to practice this “cabotage”? Certainly the US airlines are doing a good job of combining, cartelizing, and raising prices to their customers. As an occasional air traveller, I pay more for fewer choices than I did a few years ago. I wouldn’t mind paying “some obscenely low price” to visit family more often even if I pay it to some of those hated Ay-rabs.

Kirt Higdon

Mickey Jackson

As far as I’m aware, customs preclearance facilities in other countries are manned by U.S. border agents and subject to the same laws and security procedures as the facilities at U.S. airports. We’ve had similar facilities in Canada and Ireland for years.

As for cabotage, it’s possible that the U.S. airlines have a point about foreign governments’ subsidies of their flag carriers. With that said, keep in mind that the airlines are big corporations in an increasingly oligopolistic market, as anyone who’s flown recently knows; and, like all oligopolists, they’re eager to use regulation to prevent new entrants. If there are truly legitimate safety concerns then of course the government should step in, but in general we should all be suspicious when big corporations try to protect themselves from competition. Consumers don’t benefit from industry protectionism (and it seems a little strange to invoke Pope Francis, of all people, in support of corporations’ efforts to maintain market power at the expense of, well, everyone else).

Bottom line, IMHO: a lot of the Pope’s statements about modern capitalism are dead-on, but I don’t see these two anecdotes as being particularly related to what he’s said.

tz1

You mean if I take a cruise to Dubai, I won’t be masturbated by the TSA in a connecting flight home?

Danny Getchell

If the US carriers weren’t so hellbent on achieving customer service pitched somewhere between a Mumbai jitney and 1975 Aeroflot, they would have much less to fear regarding an end to cabotage.